The Virgin Mary in the Ministry of Jesus and the Early Church according to the Earliest Life of the Virgin

2005 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Shoemaker
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Virgin Mary ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Christian Literature ◽  
Canonical Narratives ◽  
Protevangelium Of James

In 1986, Michel van Esbroeck published a remarkable new Life of the Virgin that not only is among the most profound and eloquent Mariological writings of early Byzantium but also presents a useful compendium of early apocryphal traditions about Mary. Some of the Life's episodes are already well known from their original sources, such as the Protevangelium of James and the early dormition apocrypha, but many other extrabiblical traditions appearing in this Life of the Virgin are not otherwise attested in early Christian literature. This is true especially of the section that overlaps with the gospels, where the Life expands the canonical narratives in ways unprecedented (to my knowledge) in Christian apocryphal literature. By writing Mary into the story at key points and augmenting several of her more minor appearances, the Life portrays Mary as a central figure in her son's ministry and also as a leader of the nascent church. The result is a veritable “Gospel of Mary” in the section of the Life that emphasizes Mary's essential contributions to her son's earthly mission and her leadership of the apostles in the early Christian community: the Life gives a brief account of the same events recorded in the canonical gospels, but with the Virgin Mary brought to the fore at nearly every instance. The origins of these traditions are not entirely clear, and while they may be the work of the Life's author, it is equally possible that they reflect now lost apocryphal traditions about Mary that once circulated in late antiquity. In any case, the attention that this earliest Life of the Virgin lavishes on the activities of Mary and other women as important leaders in the formation of Christianity is rather striking and quite exceptional among the literature of Christian late antiquity. In its emphasis on the roles played by these women it represents a surprising ancient predecessor to much of the recent work in New Testament scholarship to recover the importance of women in the early Christian movement.

scholarly journals “The Arabs” in the ecclesiastical historians of the 4th/5th centuries: Effects on contemporary Christian-Muslim relations

2008 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David D. Grafton
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Historical Inquiry ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
Cultural Stereotypes ◽  
Negative Image ◽  
Evangelical Christian ◽  
Contemporary Christian ◽  
History Of ◽  
Christian Literature

Historical inquiry into the origin and history of “the Arabs” has long been a part of Western Orientalist literature. However, Christian scholars from the 7th century onward sought to understand the rise of Islam from within a Biblical framework. This article looks at how the early church historians of the 4th and 5th centuries viewed “the Arabs” and passed on those images to their ecclesiastical descendents. It aims to argue that the pejorative image of “the Arabs” as uncultured pagan barbarians of late antiquity was extended to Muslims in the 7th century and transferred into the Latin derogatory term “the Saracen”. This negative image has been perpetuated in Western Christian literature and continues to color Western Evangelical Christian and Dispensational images of “the Arabs”. The article shows that such perceptions have as much to do with the cultural stereotypes disseminated from the ecclesiastical historians as they do with Biblical hermeneutics.

Respect for Context in Quotations from The Old Testament

1962 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. L. Edgar
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Distinctive Character ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The New Testament

The attempt to get behind the gospel record back to the authentic words and acts of Jesus has occupied many scholars of this generation. This has come about because of a scepticism regarding the historical value of the sayings as recorded, and has often concluded by assuming that the New Testament throws light only on what the early Christian community believed Jesus said rather than on what he did say. It is not the writer's intention to belittle the problem, but to suggest it may be approached from a fresh angle. This article seeks to show that in one respect at least the words of Jesus, as recorded in the gospels, are of a distinctive character, especially when compared with the editorial comments of the evangelists, and hence the form of the first may not be as dependent on the evangelists and the early church as sometimes claimed.

Gendered Space

2021 ◽  
pp. 290-302
Author(s):  
Joan E. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Third Century ◽  
Christian Women ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
House Church ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Third ◽  
Ritual Space ◽  
Gendered Space ◽  
Eusebius Of Caesarea

This chapter considers the meeting place of the Therapeutae, described in Philo of Alexandria’s De Vita Contemplativa, as represented by Eusebius of Caesarea. Since Eusebius read Philo’s treatise as indicating an early Christian community, he sees a church here, with gendered space, affirming this is Christian practice. The ministries of Christian women overall then need then to be considered within a gendered construct of space and movement. While the appropriate ‘place’ for women in the earliest congregations depends on how meeting spaces are configured (for meals, charity, teaching, healing, and prayer), the recent work of Edward Adams has contested the ubiquitous house-church model and allowed for more cognitive templates for how gendered space was constructed. The third-century ‘Megiddo church’ seems to suggest a divided dining hall for women and men, in line with gendered dining as a Hellenistic norm, with centralized ritual space.

The Patristic Context in Early Grotius

Grotiana ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-146
Author(s):  
Silke-Petra Bergjan
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Method ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Significant Shift ◽  
Historical Understanding ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Historical Comparison ◽  
Christian Literature ◽  
Ancient Texts

AbstractThe use of patristic texts was tightly bound up with the needs of the contemporary discussion which provided Grotius with sources for his patristic citations. His use of ancient texts especially in Ordinum Hollandiae ac Westfrisiae pietas proved to be highly controversial.Grotius's advocacy of tolerance with respect to various forms of Christianity determines his use of patristic texts as well. He looks for examples of moderation in the Early Church and by this accomplishes a significant shift of perspective. He points out the diversity of expressions in the Early Church and therefore replaces questions of dogmatic definition with the question of how to handle orthodoxy and heresy in society. In doing so, he implies requirements for the proper reading of patristic texts in his own times. Grotius's notion of Christian liberty is connected to awareness of context and intrinsically linked to a historical understanding. In his writings, contextualisation involves both religious-historical comparison and the integration of general sources from antiquity. With regard to early Christian sources, this means that Grotius understands them as deeply rooted in the broader ancient context. This approach to early Christian literature is already visible in De Iure Praedae. His sensibility for cultural variation, his comparative method and historical interest in ancient institutions are outstanding, and Grotius has these characteristics in common with legal humanists like François Baudouin.

Some Recent Receptions of Early Christian Literature in Bulgaria and Their Ethnical Connotations

Proglas ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christo Christov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
The Body ◽  
Eastern Orthodox ◽  
Moral Choice ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Pelagian Controversy ◽  
Christian Literature ◽  
God's Grace

In this paper, when I use the concept of ‘early Christian literature’ I mean the body of texts from Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages that affects the controversies around the issue of God’s Grace and the role of free human will in the context of making a choice in a strict ethical sense. For that reason, firstly, here I analyze the problems that arose with relation to the doctrine of Pelagius. Secondly, in this paper, by ‘recent receptions of this early Christian literature in Bulgaria’ I mean those receptions – in a theological, literary, and ethical sense - that we encounter in current studies of Christian Latin literature done by the promising young researcher Rosen Milanov. Thirdly, the present study attempts to answer the question of the ethical connotations of those same receptions in the present-day moral controversies in Bulgaria – a country rich in conservative views of Eastern Orthodox nature, concerning contemporary ethical issues such as those related to the ratification of the Istanbul Convention last year. In this way it may be possible to obtain a more clear outlook on how such distant historical events as the Pelagian controversy about the value of free moral choice could still influence the modification processes in the sociocultural layers of modern Bulgarian society with its Eastern Orthodox heritage.

Psalms

2019 ◽  
pp. 571-587
Author(s):  
Michael Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
First Person ◽  
Inner Life ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The People ◽  
And Training

Historically speaking it was scarcely predictable that the predominantly Gentile Christian community of Late Antiquity should be drawn to a book of ancient Jewish prayers, much less ascribe to it divine authority. Yet Christians adopted Israel’s book of Psalms in toto as part of the treasury of the people of Christ. The Psalter not only offered prophetic teaching and training in spirituality. For many with a radical Christological perspective, the texts mediated the very voice of Christ speaking in the first person, thus opening a window on the inner life of the redeeming Lord. The Psalms received more comment from early Christian writers than any other Old Testament book. It was a constant presence in liturgy, a training book for prayer, a source of theological instruction, a blueprint for spiritual advancement, and a key that unlocked the whole Bible. The chapter examines different ways the Psalms functioned among the early Christians.

The Early Church in North America: Late Antiquity, Theory, and the History of Christianity

2002 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Brakke
Keyword(s):  
Annual Meeting ◽  
North American ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Early Church ◽  
History Of Christianity ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
Number Of Publications ◽  
American Philological Association

By almost any measure, the study of ancient Christian history is alive and well, even if one limits one's view to the North American scene. Over the last three decades the number of publications in the field, both books and articles, has grown considerably, fueling (among other things) the astonishing success of theJournal of Early Christian Studies, founded by the North American Patristic Society (NAPS) a decade'ago. Each year the program of the annual meeting of NAPS features more papers and attracts more participants (even though they must stay in less than ideal, even appropriately monastic, dormitory rooms). The number of papers on early Christian topics at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature (as well as the American Philological Association) is very impressive.

The Virgin, the Bride, and the Church: Reading Psalm 45 in Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine

2000 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Linguistic Turn ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Past ◽  
Christian Literature ◽  
Christian Discourse ◽  
The Church

Within the past decade or so, historical studies of early Christianity have been affected by what has been called the “linguistic turn.” This development has entailed a new appreciation of the varied forms of Christian “discourse” and their importance in shaping the cultural, political, and social worlds of late antiquity. For example, historians of religion and culture, such as Judith Perkins and Kate Cooper, have drawn attention to the way in which narrative representation in early Christian literature functioned to construct Christian identities and to negotiate power relations both within the church and in society at large. It has become increasingly difficult for historians to ignore the power of rhetoric in shaping the imaginative (and, therefore, real) worlds of late ancient Christians.

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